Before I knew better, my taste for croissants was solely based on the mass-produced butter crescents purchased from Costco snug in a cellophane twelve pack. I would microwave one and slather its piping insides with jam and butter or toast another until the edges were burnt and curled into the coils of the toaster. By the time I finally tried a crisp, soft, and delicate true croissant, my eyes widened in glee and my taste buds changed. The top layer flaked off into my mouth with a soft crunch. The thin dough sheets below the crunch dissolved quickly on my tongue and the smooth, buttery aftertaste flooded my senses -- this pastry is undeniable.

With a tiny kitchen that barely has room for a mixing bowl, let alone room to roll, I signed up for the Sur la Table croissant class to dive into the delicious layers that have mesmerized and intimidated me. Though I have taken many SLT classes over the years, the foods that scare me the most are croissants and macarons, due to their complicated, tender processes.

Once my group got the dough proofed and the butter flattened into a sheet, we grabbed a ruler and got to work making sure we had a close-to-perfect rectangle before we started “turning”. Turning is a term for rolling and folding the dough to create the many airy, butter-filled layers that add volume to the final shapes.

During the three-hour class, we experimented with different aspects beyond the classic croissant. We filled small rectangles with chunks of chocolate for a more decadent treat and crafted morning buns, rolled up dough filled with cinnamon and dipped in sugar warm from the oven.

I went home with an entire box of freshly-baked treats that wouldn’t last the weekend, and a newfound respect for the professional bakers who deal in dough all day, the buttery and/or sugary fingers that you can’t simply lick clean.

Morning BunsSur la TableYield: 12 Buns

Note: As much as I enjoyed learning how to make croissant dough in class, it's a very long and complicated process and I wouldn't be able to add anything substantial, so I am linking to the SLT Classic Croissant dough recipe and inserting the morning buns recipe below.

Morning buns are an amped-up version of cinnamon rolls made with flaky croissant dough. The buns are baked in a muffin tin so the outside of each one gets deeply browned and caramelized. When they come out of the oven, they are immediately rolled in sugar, giving them a sparkling finish.

1/2 recipe (about 1 1/2 pounds) croissant dough

1 large egg, lightly whisked

2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

Roll and fill the dough: Roll dough into an 18 by 11 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Position the dough with a long side parallel to the edge of your work surface. Sweep off any flour on the surface and then brush the entire surface of the dough lightly with the egg.

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over dough, leaving a 1 inch border along the edge furthest from you.

Shape the dough: Beginning with the side closest to you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Finish rolling the dough onto the border. Pinch all along the seam to seal it. Cut the cylinder into 12 equal pieces. Place each in a generously buttered muffin tin, cut side up.

Proof the dough: Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the buns to rise in a cool, room temperature spot until they have doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.

Bake the buns: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F with a rack in the center. Chill the buns in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the buns are a deep golden brown.

Place granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Using tongs, gently remove buns from tin and roll in sugar making sure to coat all sides. Transfer to a silicone mat or parchment paper to cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Storing: The buns are at their best the same day they are made. They may be stored at room temperature for two days, then reheated in a 375 degree F oven for 7 to 8 minutes.

]]>Multi-Layered: Sur La Table Croissant ClassHey, Dollface: The Infamous Doll CakeLara EndreszlSat, 15 Jul 2017 15:06:27 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/heydollface5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:596a29f7d2b85786e680c8ebIt was an ordinary Saturday, not my birthday or another special occasion,
when my mother made the prettiest cake the neighborhood had ever seen.

I am six and Barbie is still in heavy rotation in my world; the Ferrari still leaves the dream house a couple times a week and there are tiny shoes for every stripe in the rainbow. Mom is taking a cake decorating class and is practicing ruffles; creating lines of colored frosting on wax paper with a piping bag, scraping them off, and starting again. I sit at the kitchen table and draw, watching across the way as she plays with lines of color on the counter; just like me, only fancier. A couple weeks ago she made a volcano cake for my brother. His friends came over and helped him eat the gooey, red and orange frosted cake that oozed like active lava. The final cake is for me. The girls who live on my street have been invited to the unveiling.

The following Saturday we stand around my kitchen table staring at her. She’s beautiful, like a doll should be, and once we are done marveling at her frosted frame we get to eat her dress. She reaches out to us with stiff arms from rows of narrow, pink, skirt ripples dotted with tiny flowers in yellow and green. She’s just a plastic doll staring at me from a chocolate ball gown covered in frosting curls, but she’s mine for the afternoon.

With promises of upcoming front lawn tea parties and swingset dates, I said goodbye to my friends and sent the remaining slices of cake off to their mothers. After our pink-stained paper plates were pitched and our frosting-clumped forks soaked, Mom picked up the little doll and rinsed her off. She was naked, like Barbie, from shoulder to hip but her legs had gone missing and in their place was a flesh-colored toothpick. Cake decorating, it turned out, wasn't Mom's favorite hobby and we never saw the doll come alive again. Mom stuck her in the kitchen island amid the tips and piping bags next to our collection of boxed teas, and she probably still lives there, her bright red bob flattened by the plastic bag. The doll cake only lasted a couple of hours but the lore of its existence spread throughout the surrounding neighborhood like our sugar rush, quick, exciting, and short-lived.

In the picture, you may think I am one of the girls sitting up front mugging for the camera, but I am the barely visible floating head in the teal shirt -- just bangs and a thin-lipped, no-teeth smile -- hovering just above the doll’s head. I recognize my awkward posture right away; my feet are probably hiked up on the back of one of our kitchen chairs as I lean into the frame. After Mom sent me the picture, I asked why I was hiding in the background. Mom shrugged audibly, “Blame the photographer”.

Epilogue:

Barbie’s dream house has long been packed in the rafters of our garage, the red Ferrari lovingly bubble-wrapped, the box collecting dust in wait for my potential kids. While in California for a week prepping sweets for a friend’s bridal shower, Mom dug through the kitchen island one evening and produced her crinkled piping bags and barely-used tips for me to try. I wasn’t there when she tore apart her decorating supplies, but I am sure she had to move the plastic redhead out of the way to find the box; and the thought made me smile. After she washed the piping bags out and hung them to dry above the sink, we laughed that one of the white linen bags was still stained pink...a permanent remnant from the one and only doll cake. Decades later I can’t recall if the cake was moist or dry; the frosting too sweet; or how many cups of milk I drank that day. What I remember was the awe on our faces, my pride over my mother’s creation, and pure crumb-covered joy.

Since moving my giant sweet tooth to New York, I gained exclusive, 24-hour access to loads of highly-rated treats all over the city. I have been known to seek out standard, long line places as well as the hole-in-the-wall bakeries in search of new baked goods, one of my favorites being cream puffs. Even though perfectly crafted cream puffs are multiplying all around me at an alarming rate, I decided it was my turn to get my hands flour-y and learn a new skill. As it happened, Sur la Table had a class on sale and since I’m no stranger to their Manhattan store, I signed up for a Sunday morning class and set my alarm to an unflattering weekend time.

When I arrived at the store, I planted my purse in the empty chair closest to the complimentary Nespresso machine and got to work perking myself up while donning my thin, white apron and washing my hands in preparation for French Pastry Secrets. With a cap of 16 students, four teams of four (or less, depending on attendance) disperse among the cooking stations and get to work. My teammates were two friendly women who had also chose to enthusiastically bake creamy, French treats on a rainy Sunday morning.

After taking turns violently whisking the pastry cream to prevent lumps, we started making the dough and learned lessons that you can only glean from hands-on preparation (or, trial and error, if you’re a glutton). For example, you simply can’t trust the pate a choux dough. When it starts to come together post-stovetop with the help of a churning KitchenAid mixer, the humidity in the air (or any number of variables) can cause the dough to be temperamental. The recipe calls for four eggs to be incorporated into the dough, but on a good day it could only be three. That particular rainy Sunday, we ended up using all three of our eggs and around ½ of another egg, beaten. You have to watch the dough carefully after each incorporation so it creates a soft, gummy paste instead of an eggy ball or a crumbled, dry mess.

Once the egg debacle was over, we stuffed a pastry bag with the cooled, dough and piped it into little Hershey Kiss-esque mounds on our silicone mat with the pre-mapped circles so they wouldn’t bake into each other. Another tip we learned while piping was not to move our hands in a circular motion in order to fill the round template. Instead, squeeze from the top of the dough cone with your dominant hand and with the other, hold the tip steady over the middle of each template so you create little rounds that will puff up uniformly in the oven. While we didn’t get to stick our creations into the oven (for safety reasons) nor did we get to watch them rise magically like tiny mushroom clouds, once our team glimpsed the near-perfect golden brown dough florets pulled out of our oven, we beamed with pride and drooled with hunger (at least I did). We made chocolate truffles and decorated fruit tarts while waiting for the stars of the class to cool. Once we were able, we piped chilled vanilla cream into each hollow dough cavern and I utilized leftover truffle chocolate ganache to dip mine in as a finishing touch. The timid, perhaps pastry- skeptics of the class were oohing and ahhing with the rest of us at our group creations and no one went home hungry.

Even though the process may seem daunting, just a little patience and experimentation go a long way. Cream puffs were much easier and relatively quicker to make than I could have imagined when conjuring images of diligent French chefs in stark whites huddled in hot kitchen nooks with flour caked onto their faces.

Cream Puffs

I chose to dip my filled puffs in leftover chocolate ganache from a truffle recipe, but feel free to leave them plain or dust with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chai powder, or simply top with whipped cream. You can also use these shells as profiteroles, just fill them with ice cream and serve immediately.

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Yield: About 2 cups

1 ½ c whole milk

1 T vanilla bean paste

1 large egg

3 large egg yolks

½ t sea salt

⅓ c granulated sugar

¼ c cornstarch

2 T cold, unsalted butter

Fill a large bowl halfway with ice and water and set it aside. Pour the milk into a medium saucepan. Heat the milk to a simmer and remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together vanilla bean paste, egg, egg yolks, salt, and sugar until well combined. Add cornstarch and whisk vigorously until the mixture is very smooth. Pour about ½ c of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the hot milk, whisking consistently.

Heat the mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the cornstarch from lumping, until it reaches a boil, whisk for another minute, until the pastry cream is very thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.

(Optional) Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh strainger set over a medium bowl to remove any lumps or tiny bits of egg.

Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream, then set the bowl into the bowl of ice water. Once the pastry cream has completely cooled, use or store in refrigerator until needed.

Pate a Choux Dough

Yield: 20 (2 ½ inch) puffs

This versatile dough is perfect for entertaining, since pate a choux pastries can be made in advance, frozen and then re-crisped the day you wish to serve them. Even if you’re intimidated by other pastry-making, pate a choux is quick, easy, and low stress. It used to require strenuous beating by hand to blend the eggs into the doubh, but now it’s simple -- the stand mixer does all the work. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch thick pieces

1c (8 oz.) water

¼ t sea salt

1 c (5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour

5 large eggs (About 4 used in recipe, 1 used in egg wash)

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream, well chilled (see above)

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Place the butter, water, and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon, so the butter melts evenly. When the butter has melted, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour all at once. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a mass around the spoon. Place the pan back over medium heat and continue to cook, beating, for another minute or so to dry out the dough -- the pan will have a thin film of dough on the bottom.

Immediately transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute to slightly cool the dough and develop the gluten. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, allowing each addition to blend completely into the dough before continuing. When the eggs are incorporated, the mixture should be shiny and elastic and stick to the side of the bowl. It should also pass the “string test”: Place a bit of dough between your thumb and forefinger and pull them apart. The dough should form a stretchy string about 1 ½ to 2-inches long. If the dough has not reached this stage, beat an egg and continue adding a bit of liquid egg mixture a little at a time, until the dough is finished.

Preheat oven to 400 F., and position two racks in the top and lower thirds of the oven. To make a template for the puffs on parchment, line one or two baking sheets with parchment first. Then remove the paper and use a biscuit cutter or another 2 ½ inch circular template as a guide and draw twenty (20) 2 ½ inch circles on each sheet of parchment, spacing them out evenly. Turn the pieces of parchment over on the pans so the marks show through but are facing down so you don’t pipe dough onto the markings.

Spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch plain tip. Pipe the dough into ½ to ¾-inch-high circles to fill each template. Squeeze from the top of the pastry bag “cone” and try not to move the tip from the center of each circle; let the pressure of your hand fill up the template from the middle. Pipe all 20 rounds of dough and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, lightly beat an egg to blend thoroughly. Brush a light coating of egg wash over the tops of the piped dough with a pastry brush, behing careful not to drip it down the sides (otherwise it will glue the puffs to the paper). You will not use all of the egg wash. Bake your puffs for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 F, switch the sheets (if you have more than one) between the racks, rotate the pans from front to back, and bake for 20 minutes longer. Reduce the temperature again to 300 F, and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer (to dry out the interior). The cream puffs should be a deep golden brown, with no bubbling moisture visible around the sides. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Transfer pastry cream to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch tip.

To assemble puffs: Use a serrated knife to slice each puff in half across its equator, horizontally. You can leave the tops partially on at this point like hinged lids, or cut them off completely, just replace the tops after you’ve piped the cream. Pipe the cream into the bottom of each cream puff until the cream is about 1 ½ inches high, or until desired amount of cream is in each puff, if you’ve completely removed the tops, replace them now and dust with powdered sugar, or an alternative. If you are dipping your puffs in chocolate or other, do that just prior to serving.

This hallway makes me feel small. The lights buzz and flicker every so often above my head and the constant barrage of footsteps make me uneasy, but I’ve been here before. The beeps and thumps of the machines all around me create a cacophony that heightens my senses instead of dull them -- like the rest of my comrades in this Manhattan emergency room. I haven’t thought about food in hours, an unusual occurrence, like there’s a cloud where my appetite should be. It’s almost 4 a.m. and the rest of the patients waiting for beds in the hospital upstairs are all asleep. Every few minutes a nurse, doctor, EMT, or a mixed group of them whoosh by my bed either going to or coming from another trauma. Most of the time I feel invisible, like faded wallpaper, but then someone hip-checks my bed or kicks my IV pole and they notice me. Every four hours since I arrived with an infected pancreas and turbulent stomach, a nurse comes over to hang another fluid bag and injects me with my dose of morphine. As soon as it reaches my blood stream I feel a jolt -- like hitting the brakes on a roller coaster -- and my entire body feels heavy, as if weighted down by more than a few cc’s of liquid.

I slip in and out of sleep. Anxiety overpowers opiates. Around the shift change at 6 a.m. I watch the nurses stream by me like zombies holding their travel coffee mugs outright, as if one spilled drop is life or death, then they move me out of the bright hallway and into a nook in the corner of the ER with curtained off cubbies for each bed. The new lights on the ceiling that point at my bed are less harsh than the hallway lights and the morphine filter creates welcoming little halos around them. It is here that I succumb to sleep for hours on end. The idea of food hasn’t crossed my mind once today; it’s a coping mechanism. My body knows in order to heal itself, I can’t eat or drink for 48 hours. I don’t even dream about food. My friend sat with me for most of the day but due to my lack of coherent conversation skills, she finally gave up and read aloud to me from her cheesy, romance novel until we could hear that the man and his wife just beyond the curtain at my feet were listening in, displeased. I spend most of Sunday sleeping or using the bathroom as all I am allowed are ice chips and IV fluids.

It’s been over 36 hours since I arrived and it’s now Monday--Labor Day--I had hoped I would be out in search of burnt, barbequed hot dogs with mustard and relish and sloppy, sprinkle-covered ice cream cones today. My three-day-weekend started in a kayak on the Hudson followed by a Lifetime movie and Chinese food and ended on a drug binge, stuck in a bed on wheels, wearing hollowed gowns that thousands have worn, leashed by a tube to a nutrient bag.

I am still in my cubby in the corner of the ER and the sheet of my bed is bunched up near my feet which are swimming in the perpetually scrunched up slipper socks they assign you to wear at all times. My friend is back in the afternoon -- having spent her entire weekend with me, first in the kayak and now here -- sitting next to my mobile cot and breathing in the stale hospital air. The nurses come to tell me they finally found me a bed -- I’ll get to go upstairs to a room shared with only one person, instead of seven. The excitement I feel from this revelation jolts me up in bed even though I have recently had my morphine dose and immediately feel dizzy. Moving upstairs means I will be healed soon which means I am thatmuchcloser to sinking back into my own colored sheets, feather duvet, and mountain of pillows. Most of all, it means I can eat -- will have to eat -- before they can release me. I stay seated for a few minutes, trying to steady myself on my palms and stare at my friend. She has just started telling me a story; something that happened at work, no...someone or something she saw on the subway...wait, maybe it’s about her roommate. I’m not quite sure which, but I’d like to -- sensations flood through my brain as I see my head nodding along to her story. I must be riveted; I seem to be giving the appropriate non-verbal response cues. I stare intently at one sleeve of her green tee shirt and then look to the leather backpack at her feet, hoping to retain any of the information she’s already shared. It feels like forever she’s been talking but my mind is in a state of oven-warmed bliss. Finally, I stop her. “So,” I say, “I’m hearing what you’re saying, I really am...but I haven’t been listening. I’m staring at you, but all I can think about is cinnamon rolls.”

While the following recipe is a placeholder from the blog Jo Cooks, for my photos I took a shortcut and used what I had on hand: Store-bought dough and a powdered sugar glaze.

CINNABON CINNAMON ROLLS

Author: Jo

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS

Dough

1 (2¼ tsp or ¼ ounce or 7 g) package active dry yeast

1 cup (250 mL) warm milk

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

⅓ cup (75 g) margarine (I used softened butter)

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

2 eggs

4 cups (500 g) all purpose flour

Filling

1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar

3 tbsp (45 mL) cinnamon

⅓ cup (75 g) margarine, softened

Cream Cheese Icing

6 tbsp (113 g) margarine (I used butter)

1½ cups (187 g) powdered sugar

¼ cup (55 g) cream cheese

½ tsp (3 mL) vanilla

⅛ tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.

Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour to the bowl of a mixer and mix well.

Pour the milk/yeast mixture in the bowl and using the dough hook, mix well until well incorporated.

Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 16 inches long by 12 inches wide. It should be approx ¼ inch thick.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

To make filling, combine the butter or margarine, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Spread the mixture evenly over the surface of the dough. Alternatively you can spread the butter first on the dough and then the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. The roll should be about 18 inches in length. Cut the roll into 1½ inch slices. You might find it easier if you use a piece of floss vs a knife.

Place the cut rolls in the prepared pan. Cover them with a damp towel. Let them rise again for another 30 minutes until they double in size.

Bake for 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cooking time can vary greatly!

While the rolls are baking make the icing by mixing all ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.

When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

NOTES

Prep time does not include time to let the dough rise.

You could prepare this the day before up until step 10. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight. The rolls should continue to rise in the fridge but if by morning they have not doubled in size, turn your oven to 200 F degrees until it warms up, then turn it off. Place the pan in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls double in size. Then you can bake them as instructed.

When nostalgia hits, you become the tiny, plastic ballerina in a music box lined with former memories. Round and round you go, blurry images encircle you in a fuzzy fog, the simple tinkling of a familiar song plays in the distance. Spying a honeysuckle plant transports me back to my plaid kindergarten uniform sitting in the grass sucking the sweet sap from the delicate stem. The triangular irregularity of a Toblerone chocolate bar sends me right to high school during my first trip abroad. Mashed potatoes, still a comfort food of mine, take me to the one-note college cafeteria where I dreamed of having my own kitchen. My mother’s Seven Layer Bars, a family favorite, stick me right next to the sink at my parents house pouring sweetened condensed milk out of the can and licking my sticky fingers before popping the pan into the oven.

Melt butter on the stove top in your 13" x 9" baking pan -- this saves time and a dish! Pour graham cracker crumbs on top of the melted butter and press gently to form an even crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of coconut over crust. Top coconut with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and walnuts. Top with remaining coconut and pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk over the top to seal all the layers together. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Cut into bars when cooled. Store at room temperature.

My brother and I have what I assume most people would call an ordinary brother-sister relationship. Being three years older than me, we didn’t like any of the same music or television shows--aside from The Simpsons--and we never shared any of the same friends. We rarely had conversations that weren’t around the shared dinner table about who’s turn it was to do the dishes. In fact, my brother was so responsible, he often acted like the third parent in my household, to my eye-rolling dismay. My brother is the complete opposite of my loud, silly, frilly, bookish nature; he’s a quiet, internal, street-smart guy who loves fast cars, loud bass, and video games. Now that he has two young girls of his own, I catch him parenting in that stern, serious tone and the reverberations of our youth echo in my ears and bring a knowing smile.

One of the things we always agreed on is the pairing of peanut butter and chocolate. From our love of Reese’s peanut butter cups and Moose Tracks ice cream to trying to make our own delicious treats by freezing a spoonful of peanut butter dunked in Hershey’s syrup, there’s nothing to fight about when you combine these two ingredients.

Although my brother and I still don’t have a lot in common and are now living far apart, when his birthday rolls around, I know that I can go to my kitchen and bake something more useful than a gift card.

CRACK BITES

Adapted from: What Megan's Making

I first saw these a few years ago on this blog, and have been making these quick, no-bake treats as gifts or an easy, party dessert. The first time I made them for my brother’s birthday he hid the large tub of these from his family under the guise that they were his gift and he was not interested in sharing.

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

Pretzels

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Scrape down bowl, add sugars and beat until combined. You should be able to roll the mixture into balls without sticking to your hands. If needed, add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 1 teaspoon of mixture for each ball, and place on prepared baking sheet. Sandwich the balls between two pretzels and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat. Dip each pretzel bite halfway into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.

I always wanted a sister. Selfishly, I wanted someone to trade secrets and Barbies with, someone who always had my back and could lend an ear when I had a query or a hand when I needed a lift.

As the youngest child, thrown to the wild whims of an older brother and father who never let a Punch Bug go un-punched; I often felt like the odd girl out...until I met C. The confident, bouncy, opinionated, golden-haired girl who lived at the end of the street soon became the sister with whom I didn’t have to share a room but was as frequent a passerby in my house as I was in hers. Through the years she’s been the keeper of all of my secrets, my personal shopper, my makeup artist, and my advice-giver, even when unprompted.

Almost thirty years of friendship later, C is getting married and I was tasked with taking the lead in planning her bridal shower as co-maid of honor. As an only child with straightforward opinions, C is now an interior designer with exquisite taste, so I knew that I wanted to WOW her by creating a sophisticated event with a simple menu.

After spending two days shopping, cooking, baking, packing, wrapping, and decorating, I completed my task (with help from Mom, Mom's best friend, C's mom, and T, my co-maid): Eight quiches, seven flower arrangements, three salads, two gifts, and about six-hundred teeny-tiny cookies. When Sunday afternoon finally arrived, I was exhausted and overwhelmed, worried that I wouldn't make it through wobbling on my four-inch heels. However, the second C walked in and I saw that familiar smile brighten across the face of the little blonde girl I met while jumping rope on a summer sidewalk...I knew I had it right.

This salad has been a favorite of mine since last summer when I took a cooking class at Sur la Table. The zesty, zucchini stunner is not only quick to throw together but also pleasing to the eye if you want something colorful and healthy on the table.

Shaved Zucchini Salad

Adapted from: Sur la Table

Yield: 4 servings (I quadrupled this recipe)

1/4c almond slices (or slivers), toasted

1 lb. small zucchini, preferably a mix of green and yellow varieties, each no more than 5 inches in length

Trim zucchini ends. Using a vegetable peeler (or mandoline) shave the zucchini lengthwise, discarding the first and last slices that are mostly skin. Put zucchini ribbons in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt, to taste. Add dressing to the shaved zucchini and toss to coat evenly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, if necessary. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften zucchini.

Add the arugula to the zucchini and add the shaved cheese. Toss gently until mixed. Top with toasted almonds, serve immediately.

]]>Resurrection CakeLara EndreszlMon, 07 Mar 2016 02:07:00 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/2015/9/20/resurrection-cake5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:55ff6987e4b0f86318ebbf19This is my mother's springtime holiday cake and it's also my favorite. We
only call it Easter Cake, but for the purposes of this post, I have named
it Resurrection because I could be persuaded to come back from the dead for
a slice.

This is my mother's springtime holiday cake and it's also my favorite. We only call it Easter Cake, but for the purposes of this post, I have named it Resurrection because I could be persuaded to come back from the dead for a slice.

Resurrection Cake has the best elements: spongy, Springtime-esque yellow cake, a custard-like filling, a layer of fruit, a light whipped topping, and the best way to finish off any dessert: coconut. Pastel M&M candies or Robin's Egg malted milk balls have been added for a "nest" effect on top of the cake because of Easter, but do not be fooled, this is not nor has it ever been a chocolate-based cake.

This cake is light and refreshing and even good for the day-after-Easter breakfast. Reminiscent of a pina colada sans alcohol (just like these beauties), this cake is just the thing to trick a very full holiday stomach into thinking it can come out of retirement and eat a couple more bites...a rebirth, so to speak.

(MOM'S) RESURRECTION CAKEServes: 10-12

Ingredients

1 13x9in baking dish1 box of yellow cake mix (a small box of Jiffy Brand is preferred, but cannot be found in most places)* Egg/Oil/Butter (ingredients for the boxed cake mix)1 small box, vanilla instant pudding1 8oz. package cream cheese, room temperature2 cups of milk1 large 20oz can crushed pineapple, drained (preferably for a few hours or covered and refrigerated to drain overnight)1 tub whipped topping1.5 cups shredded coconut*A handful of M&M's or Robin's Eggs, (optional, to create "nest" effect)

Cake Layer:

Combine ingredients for yellow cake according to the box and bake accordingly. If you are using a small Jiffy box, use the whole mixture, it should come to about halfway up the pan. If you are using any other boxed cake mix, only bake half of it** in the 13x9in baking dish. Bake and cool.

**This is very important because the cake is layered and there would be no room for the additional layers if the whole mix was baked. Use the leftover mix for cupcakes, a smaller cake, or just make two of these.

Custard Layer:

Mix vanilla pudding mix, milk, cream cheese and on slow with a hand mixer or by hand with a spatula until well-mixed and smooth, stick custard in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to thicken.

Fruit Layer:

Squeeze any remaining liquid out of the previously-drained pineapple.

Assembly:

Once cake is cooled and custard is chilled and set, take the custard and smooth it over the cake evenly.

Distribute all of the pineapple on top of the custard layer.

Spread the tub of whipped topping and sprinkle with coconut (and candy if desired).

Chill until ready to serve.

]]>Resurrection CakeMomma-Knows-Best Chicken ChiliLara EndreszlMon, 18 Jan 2016 03:03:00 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/2015/9/20/momma-knows-best-chicken-chili5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:55ff68a6e4b03624c516f8ffFor years now, my mom has been making a white chili instead of the heartier
red chili as a family comfort food during colder months. Aside from
comfort, it's also been an easy go-to dish to feed a large gathering, and
since Mom and I have been hosting annual Oscar parties for over a decade,
mom's chicken chili has always been a welcome respite from the February
cold.

For years now, my mom has been making a white chili instead of the heartier red chili as a family comfort food during colder months. Aside from comfort, it's also been an easy go-to dish to feed a large gathering, and since Mom and I have been hosting annual Oscar parties for over a decade, mom's chicken chili has always been a welcome respite from the February cold.

Since I moved to New York, I started my own east coast Oscar party tradition. My first year hosting alone, I was craving mom's cornbread and a bowl of chicken chili; and when the pot was empty at the end of the night, I realized it was needed more than ever since I was now in a place that gets legitimately cold.

There are two tricks to this chili, the first is time. The longer it sits and simmers, the more flavor you'll get out of it.

The second trick is: Fritos. It may sound strange, but they are not to be forgotten. Unless of course there's a corn or gluten allergy and in that case, my sincere apologies to your taste buds.

Legend has it that Dad could not resist eating just ordinary chicken chili and loaded his bowl with the usual suspect toppings: cheese, sour cream, salsa, and green onions and as he was walking down the line he poured a bunch of Fritos from the snack cupboard on top of his chili. They became an instant hit, as he persuaded a bunch of guests to do the same, and crunchy, salty Fritos fast became the cornerstone of our chicken chili repertoire. Some eat it with Fritos on the bottom, others with Fritos on top so they don't lose their crunch; all of us have different ways of dressing this white chili, so feel free to find your own way.

MOMMA-KNOWS-BEST CHICKEN CHILI

Prep Time: ~20-25 mins

Cook Time: 3+ hours

Serves: 8-10 hungry people, but can always be adjusted for a smaller group. (For example, I only had four people and I used: 2 chicken breasts, 3 regular cans of beans, 1 small onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 bouillons and 1 can of chiles.)

Ingredients

6 Large chicken breasts (thawed, or fresh)

(Tasteful Tip: You can use already cooked chicken, lessening the prep time by about 20 minutes)

1 large can/box of chicken broth (regular or low sodium)

2-4 chicken bouillon cubes

1 large can great Northern beans (drained)

3 regular cans of Navy beans (drained)

1 large white or yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 small cans (4oz. each) mild green chiles

4 Tb. cooking oil

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Additional Toppings (Optional)

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Chopped Scallions/Green Onions

Fritos Corn Chips

Salsa

Guacamole/Sliced Avocado

Instructions

Boil chicken breasts in the broth with bouillon cubes for about 15-20 minutes until plump. To check for doneness, cut chicken open and check that there is no more pink/raw flesh inside. Once cooked, take chicken out of the saved broth and let it cool in a bowl for a few minutes until you can shred with your hands.

Stick shredded chicken back in the broth. If you have a large stock pot please use it now for the rest of the ingredients or transfer everything to a crock pot. (I use a crock pot so I can leave it alone.)

Heat oil in a frying pan until hot. Add the onions, garlic, and chiles and saute until onions are translucent and tender but not burned. Add these ingredients to your large pot.

Add the drained beans and the spices.

Heat to boiling and then turn down to low and cook for at least three hours. (*For use in crock pot, I cooked it on high for one hour, then on low for 3 hours.)

Serve immediately with additional toppings of your choice.

Tasteful Tips:

* For an added treat, you can serve in bread bowls, but I found that letting your guests add their own toppings and serving alongside cornbread works too!

** You can stick leftovers in the fridge for up to a week to reheat on the stove or microwave but it also freezes well, just leave out the extra toppings while freezing and thaw before reheating to bring up the temperature evenly.

Some days, you just need to have a fresh-from-the-oven cookie. Cookies come in all shapes and sizes, colors, flavors, and textures but the true nature of a cookie is to provide comfort, going back to infancy. One of the first solid foods given to babies are teething biscuits and as a young child in the grocery store I was given a “purse” of animal crackers to carry around in the red, shiny box with the string on top. Part of my after school snacks were Nilla Wafers, Oreos, or Keebler Shortbread Stripes with milk and between classes during college, I’d often buy a fresh-baked Otis Spunkmeyer cookie from the campus cafe to tide me over. I have a long and sentimental relationship with the humble cookie.

While, I usually advocate for making an entire batch and freezing the unbaked dough, it can be messy and time-consuming as well as clutter up your kitchen with cookies. Cookies, are the ultimate temptation due to their unavoidable nature, if you’re a sweet tooth like me. This recipe is great as a quick gift, an easy snack to make with children, a thrown-together dessert when having a friend for dinner, or a simple, impulsive treat anytime.

I first found this recipe years ago on Picky Palate, and have since made many of Jenny’s recipes because they are as enjoyable as they are approachable. This singular cookie is the epitome of a kitchen sink cookie because I found that you can use brown butter instead or omit the peanut butter in lieu of oats or cookie butter and add any mix-ins you may have on-hand, like leftover holiday candy. For example, I used Rolo caramel candies and chocolate chips in this iteration. This cookie takes only a few minutes to form the dough (I use an 8oz glass measuring cup or small bowl and a fork) and around 20 minutes to bake.

Now that you’ve been warned, please your inner child by rewarding yourself with a cookie you don’t have to share.

Please be advised, this recipe is addictive because it comes together quickly and the ingredients are easily interchangeable.

Peanut Butter Reese's Pieces Giant Cookie for One

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons beaten egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup Reese’s Pieces (or alternate candy of your choice)

1/4 cup chocolate covered peanuts (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small mixing bowl whisk the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla mixing until well combined. Stir in peanut butter then add flour, soda and salt. Mix for a couple turns of the spoon then add the Reese’s pieces and peanuts until combined. Scoop onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

]]>To-The-Rescue Homemade Peanut SauceLara EndreszlSun, 15 Nov 2015 03:37:00 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/2015/9/20/to-the-rescue-thai-peanut-sauce5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:55ff68f8e4b0d6cbe1b96b2dAfter leaving behind my favorite Thai food in San Francisco a couple of
years ago, I found myself wading in the dim waters of the new, New York
food scene and in an unfamiliar neighborhood; I didn't have much luck with
any takeout that doesn't rhyme with "mizza".

After leaving behind my favorite Thai food in San Francisco a couple of years ago, I found myself wading in the dim waters of the new, New York food scene and in an unfamiliar neighborhood; I didn't have much luck with any takeout that doesn't rhyme with "mizza".

After a particularly terrible bout of bronchitis which left me scrambling to eat larger quantities of food alongside antibiotics, I reached out for something more substantial: Thai food. I ordered chicken satay platter and coconut milk soup, neither of which were very appetizing upon arrival. Instead of something I was used to seeing on my plate, I was delivered two large, whole chicken breasts swimming in a runny, orange liquid, a mushy pile of broccoli and other mixed vegetables, a carton of rice, and sour soup that didn't taste much like coconut milk.

I ate what I could and stuffed the rest in my refrigerator to deal with later. Instead of pitching the bland meal the following day, I first shredded the chicken and boiled it in the soup broth to infuse flavor to the dry protein. Next, I mixed the rice and salvageable vegetables together and reheated them in a sauce pan with a bit of oil. For the crowning jewel of any Thai food dinner; I knew I had to make my own peanut sauce since whatever came with my chicken was a watery mess.

Not only was my homemade peanut sauce and full of flavor, it heightened my leftovers and saved my wallet from having to purchase another meal while recovering.

Start with the peanut butter, a bit of oil, garlic, and a dash of cayenne pepper and mix with a spoon in a small bowl. Taste as you go! The mixture will be thick, so to thin it out you can use some water or oil and if it's too spicy, add a bit of honey to sweeten it up. Be careful adding the oil -- you don't want it too oily. Mix until your desired consistency and taste. Used as a dip, it could be thicker, but as a dressing or sauce you may want to thin it out so it can be poured.

Feel free to guess and check, I didn't measure a lot of the ingredients but whipped this up on a whim; inspired by bad takeout -- make it your own!

Refrigerate any of the leftovers -- I don't know how long it lasts as it didn't stay in my fridge for long.

Tasteful Tip: When you have leftovers that you're sick of simply reheating or weren't keen on it in the first place, don't throw it out! Repurpose it if you can, use fried rice and leftover meat in a soup, shred chicken or beef into tacos, or make a new sauce to spice up an old favorite.

Excitement runs through me like an electric current. In my little wooden desk with the yellow legs and red-painted pencil holder notch etched into the top, I shuffle in my seat, knocking my saddle shoes together and watching my frilly, white socks swish at my ankles under my desk while waiting for my mom to arrive. I smooth out the skirt of my blue and red plaid uniform dress tucking it under my legs while they swing back and forth. Just because it was October and my favorite month, I begged my mom earlier in the week to bring in cookies to my kindergarten class and now that the day is here, the wait is unbearable radiating inside my five-year-old body.

Upon arrival, Mom is a superhero with baked goods instead of a cape: Tall with dark, permed hair, a blue sweater with jeans, and white high top sneakers with scrunched-up socks, she holds a round, mustard-yellow Tupperware container -- the one that looks like the middle part of a daisy. After the class greets her enthusiastically, Mom announces that she has made a new type of cookie for the class to try. Playing into my excitement over October, she made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I can see from my desk that they are round and plump, puffed up like little rust-colored footballs; just like the one Charlie Brown never successfully kicks in the comic strip.

My teacher, Mrs. Spellman--who always wears a beaded apple necklace over her jumpers and smells like chalk and honeysuckle--grabs a napkin and takes one enthusiastically off the top of the pile. Since they were my cookies by proxy, I take the next one and watch my mother start walking down the aisle past my desk to hand out the rest of the cookies. The chewy, cake-like consistency of the pumpkin cookie pulls me in while the melty, chocolate chips turn up the corners of my mouth in what can only be described as pure, cookie bliss.

During my internal cookie dialogue, I finally notice that the room is eerily silent, but not because every kid has their mouth full. No one else is eating so I stopped and looked around. Every one of my classmates had refused our cookies. They had clenched their mouths shut, crinkled up their noses, or shook their heads “No” at my mother while I sat quiet in my frilly socks, defeated by their treat rejection.

When we got in the car to go home, the daisy container was still very full and Mom vowed to never bring those cookies to school again. The rejection we felt that day was palpable. Thankfully, the cookies were too good to stop us from rolling our sleeves up every fall and making them again... just for us.

These are essentially Libby’s Great Pumpkin Cookies and they call for you to shape them into giant pumpkins, but we have only ever made these as spoon-and-drop cookies.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

Yields: About 2 dozen

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 c. old-fashioned oats

1 c. butter, softened/room temperature

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 c. pumpkin puree (fresh or canned, not pumpkin pie mix)

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (or any chocolate you have on hand, I used a large dark chocolate bar broken up into large chunks)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients (first five) and set aside. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin and mix well after each. Stir in chocolate chips. Using tablespoons or a cookie scoop, drop cookies (sized to your liking) onto a greased cookie sheet two inches apart.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on size, until cookies are firm around the edges and lightly browned.

]]>The Great Pumpkin CookiesAlmond Pancakes with Sweetened Cream Cheese and Red BerriesLara EndreszlMon, 14 Sep 2015 01:45:00 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/2015/9/20/almond-pancakes-with-sweetened-cream-cheese-and-red-berries5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:55ff5706e4b031e03bb5ac10When I was a child our Sunday family breakfast ritual centered on eating a
large meal, preferably carbohydrates, after church. If we didn't stop for
donuts around the corner from our neighborhood church, we went home and
made waffles or pancakes.

When I was a child our Sunday family breakfast ritual centered on eating a large meal, preferably carbohydrates, after church. If we didn't stop for donuts around the corner from our neighborhood church, we went home and made waffles or pancakes.

For some reason, although I know it wasn't the case, I associate waffles with Mom and pancakes with Dad. We went to visit my aunt in North Carolina as little kids and I remember eating a lot of waffles with my mom and our relatives while we were there. My brother and I were so enamored with their waffle machine, Mom bought one when we got home. I'm sure that's how the differentiation in my mind came about.

Also, my dad, having the same spirit as us kids, was always adding new things to the pancake batter: chocolate chips, berries, and his signature flavor: Cinnamon.

As well as making them his own, Dad also tended to make a game out of the pancakes, not just turning them but throwing them in the air as high as he could go, behind his back, and once...a cherished memory...thrown across the kitchen to my uncle's awaiting plate.

Due to not having a waffle machine of my own, I have been making a lot of pancakes lately. I decided that if it sounds like something I'd order at a pricey brunch, it's going to be good!

I raided my fridge and this is the deliciousness I came up with; who knows, maybe you'll make it one of your breakfast traditions.

ALMOND PANCAKES WITH BERRIES AND SWEETENED CREAM CHEESE

Serves: 3-4 (10-12 Pancakes)

2 cups Pancake Mix (You can use a store-bought mix or make your own healthier version from Bon Appetit!)

2 Large Eggs

1 cup milk (I always use skim)

1 teaspoon of Almond Extract* (*optional if you do not want almond pancakes)

Slivered Almonds* (*optional if you do not want almond pancakes

1. Blend pancake mix, eggs, vanilla extract, and milk until combined. Pour into center of a griddle or frying pan using butter or cooking spray and cook until the edges puff up and bubbles form on the surface, see above picture.

2. Before you flip throw on a few almonds if you want a crunchy element inside your pancakes, you can also add these on top later if you like.

3. Flip and cook until done. Repeat. Let cool until warm so you can add the cream cheese and berries without melting.

BERRY MIX

1 carton of Strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 carton of Raspberries, rinsed

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Bean Paste (see Drool Tip, below)

1. Blend berries with vanilla paste. You can do this ahead to get the most juice out of them; the berries will be perfect sitting overnight in the fridge.

CREAM CHEESE SPREAD

4 oz. of Cream Cheese, softened (or more, depending on how much you want to eat with a spoon)

Powdered Sugar (to taste)

1. Mix soft cream cheese and powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time until thin and sweet; depending on your desired level of sweetness; I like to make it sweet but still keep the tartness of the cream cheese.

2. Spread over already made and slightly cooled pancakes and pour berries on top.

No butter or syrup needed!

"Drool Tip: You do not need Vanilla Bean Paste; you can just use a few tablespoons of white sugar to bring out the natural juices in the berries. That said, you can use any berries or fruit you have handy: blackberries, peaches, even pineapple, see this post."

Besides always wishing that I were eating breakfast foods, I also find myself wishing I am in a tropical setting digging my feet into wet sand (not the type that ends up in my coffee, see below) and slurping something slushy and delicious. My favorite of the slushy substances? Pina Coladas, and not just because there's a catchy song to sing while drinking one.

If I had had some heavy whipping cream handy and some tropical flavored rum, I would have thrown together a special topping for my pancakes. Nevertheless, these turned out pretty scrumptious and I didn't have to sweep up any wandering sand.

PINA COLADA PANCAKES

Serves: 3-4 (10-12 pancakes)

Ingredients

2 cups pancake mix (You can use a store-bought mix or make your own healthier version from Bon Appetit and store in an airtight container.)

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2-3/4 cup coconut, shredded or flaked (optional: try it toasted!)

1 ripe pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces

Instructions

Blend pancake mix, eggs, and milk until combined. Pour into center of a griddle or frying pan using butter or cooking spray and cook until the edges puff up and bubbles form on the surface.

Before you flip, sprinkle some coconut inside the batter if you'd like some texture, otherwise just pile on top with fruit when you have a desirable stack.

A quick, refreshing drink is just a shake and stir away. All you need is few ounces of cold already-brewed coffee or espresso, milk, sugar, water, and ice. For sweetness, because sugar never dissolves in iced coffee and often leaves a wet pile mimicking sand at the bottom of the glass, I like to add simple syrup.

Simple Syrup:

Take one part water to one part sugar (I used 1/2c of each so I wasn't swimming in syrup) and dissolve on the stove top until melted. Take off heat and let cool, otherwise your ice cubes will melt. Store in an air tight container in the fridge and add to drinks and cocktails as needed.

Instructions

Stir coffee, milk, and simple syrup to your liking and pour over ice cubes in a glass.

]]>Pina Colada Pancakes & Perfect Iced CoffeeViennese Sweet Cream with BiscuitsLara EndreszlMon, 27 Jul 2015 23:30:00 +0000http://tastefulscribe.com/tasteful-kitchen/2015/9/8/viennese-sweet-cream-with-biscuits5394c2b5e4b010f46521fb30:55cd456fe4b01e36b69ab682:55ef8553e4b0b0b3fba0f992One of the things I fell in love with in Vienna was Haas & Haas, a quaint
tea shop tucked behind the huge cathedral in the middle of the
beautiful-cobblestoned city. Part of their tea fare was this lovely biscuit
with a sweet cream dollop and raspberry jam; the perfect amount of
sweetness when you pile them all together, daintily as you should, while at
a tea house.

One of the things I fell in love with in Vienna was Haas & Haas, a quaint tea shop tucked behind the huge cathedral in the middle of the beautiful-cobblestoned city. Part of their tea fare was this lovely biscuit with a sweet cream dollop and raspberry jam; the perfect amount of sweetness when you pile them all together, daintily as you should, while at a tea house.

However, because I have been recreating this snack for a handful of years following my stint in Vienna, I have made it a little less ceremonious because food doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be good.

Since I knew none of the original exact ingredients, I had to wing this recipe using ingredients I was already familiar with; feel free to do the same to make it your own.

Viennese Sweet Cream Biscuits

Ingredients

1 tub Mascarpone, Italian cream cheese*

1/3 c Powdered Sugar, divided (more or less, to taste)

1 jar Raspberry Jam/Jelly/Preserves (any fruit compote can be used here, exact amount depends on how much used per biscuit; you can also use macerated fresh berries)

1 roll, refrigerated biscuit dough**

* Can use American cream cheese/creme fraiche/ricotta if you wish, but adjust the powdered sugar to your taste if you'd rather have it more tangy than sweet as each of these is different in taste and texture.

** French bread slices, croissants, or scones may also be used. Of course, homemade biscuits taste best, if you have more time.

Instructions

In a large bowl whip together the tub of mascarpone with the powdered sugar, adding a little at a time. Taste after each incorporation to see if you want it sweet or tangy. Keep in mind you are adding jam on top of the cheese mixture. (This step can be done a day or two ahead of time, just give a final mix with a spatula before dolloping on biscuits.)

Make biscuits according to package directions, or your recipe.

Let biscuits cool for a few minutes so they can be held easily. Break open and top with sweetened cream and jam of your choice.

Enjoy, but don't talk with your mouth full. These are tea biscuits after all; even if, more often than not, you eat them in your favorite sweatpants.